Call Me Old-Fashioned...

I still remember preparing for my First Holy Communion. The nuns insisted that we hold our open hands palm to palm, fingers pointed up. "Don't be lazy like some adults," they admonished, as they forbade us to interlace our fingers. It was made very clear that receiving Jesus was the best thing that could happen to us, and that our prayerful posture was the least we could do to show Him reverence. But I confess, I eventually became one of those "lazy adults."

And then came the challenge of keeping active children focused at Mass. For many years, I held the nursling, while Krazyglue (my DH) helped the toddler keep interested by redirecting his attention and explaining quietly what was happening. We brought religious kids' books for the next one up, in his "church bag". It was when they were starting to pray the Mass with us, that I remembered my training and instructed them to fold their hands in prayer just as I had as a young girl. "Fingers pointed to heaven," I told them.

Fingers pointed to heaven... That was almost the title of this post, because that is the habit that we still have, and never a Mass goes by that I am not glad for it! Through the years it has minimized all sorts of fidgeting, and most importantly, prevented sibling wars over, "He's touching me!" or, "He keeps leaning his hands on my part of the pew!" Oh yes, occasionally I still have to remind them to point their fingers to heaven, as they get sloppy from time to time. It's actually a very good thing, too, because those whispered words serve as a reminder to us all on why we're there: the Mass points to heaven and the Eucharist gives us the graces we need along the way. We're supposed to be praying the Mass, and our hands -- fingers pointed to heaven -- keep us attentive to the task. Old-fashioned? Maybe; but definitely worth doing!